Jonas Jerebko, Ben Wallace among bright spots for Pistons through first 20 games

AP File PhotoRookie Jonas Jerebko is averaging 7.2 points per game for the Pistons.How good are the Detroit Pistons? Since they have played 17 of their
first 20 games without Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince, it is
impossible to know for sure.

But the way the Pistons have played in the absence of their two veteran stars?

That says a lot.

Here are 10 things we know about the Pistons after 20 games:

• They have responded better to first-year coach John Kuester than last year’s team did to Michael Curry.

The
Pistons were a mess last season, and a lot of that falls on Curry.
Certainly, some of the players share the blame, but Allen Iverson was
not the only player who had a problem with Curry. Hamilton said Curry
“lied to us a million times.”

The Pistons have bought into the system
established by Kuester, who seems like one of the most honest people
you could ever meet.

• No NBA team puts forth 100 percent effort from
the start to the finish of every game. But the Pistons come as close as
any team.

Except for the loss to Phoenix in the final game of a four-game West Coast trip, it is difficult to fault the team’s effort.

• Jonas Jerebko is the real deal.

The
NBA is driven by numbers, so Jerebko has no chance at being named
Rookie of the Year. But he was a steal as the 39th pick in the draft
and appears to have a solid career ahead of him.

• Ben Wallace currently is the team’s MVP.

Wallace
is healthy for the first time in years, and he has set the tone for the
Pistons defensively. He leads by example on and off the court.

• Kuester owes a good portion of his early success to Wallace.

Being
a first-time coach can be difficult. It takes time for players to buy
into a new system. Having a talented, hard-working, outspoken and
respected veteran like Wallace behind him has been helpful.

• Kuester often leans on players who provide the most energy, even if they are not the most talented.

Chucky
Atkins and Jason Maxiell are far from the best players on the Pistons
roster, even though the team is shorthanded. But the Pistons have won
three of four games since Kuester put them into the starting lineup.

• Ben Gordon is great addition.

Gordon
has picked up the scoring slack left by the absence of Hamilton and
Prince. He doesn’t care if he starts or comes off the bench, and he
rushed himself back from an ankle injury because the team was
shorthanded.

It’s difficult to imagine where the Pistons would be without him.

• Incorporating Hamilton and Prince into the lineup will take time.

The
Pistons have established a rotation and an attitude without Hamilton or
Prince. Getting them back will make the Pistons a better team in the
long haul, but there could be a few small bumps in the road during the
transition.

• The Pistons are more fun to watch than they have been in the recent past.

To put it simply, they give a better effort while whining less to the referees.

• Judging by the size of the crowds at The Palace of Auburn Hills, few seem to have taken notice.

The
Palace fills up a bit when a team like Cleveland comes to town, but
most of the time there are plenty -- “plenty” being a code word for
“thousands” -- of seats available.

The Pistons are four games below .500 and sit ninth in the Eastern Conference. They are 8-12.

But
the Pistons are without two of their stars. They have several new
faces. They have a new coach who is instituting a new system. And they
appear likely to make the playoffs.